Bonus Bone: Blueprint bedroom

The perfect bedroom, from September/October 2007 Blueprint

Cardboard and I heart this bedroom so much!!! It's the perfect balance of neutral grays and browns, sunny yellows, and a burst of teal blue. It's modern, yet traditional. A little bit country and a little bit of rock n' roll. Blueprint calls it the bedroom for girls living with boys, so not too frilly and not too bachelor pad-ey. I'm ready to curl up with a good book, a cup of coffee and Hardwood!

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.

Love Pack for Eyes

Love Pack Glass Set, at Hot Flamingo

This set of glasses would make such a cute wedding present. Especially for an optometrist!

Wednesday sale at JC Penny!

Venetian trifold mirror, available at JCPenny

I was just surfing around looking for some mirrors and I came across a pretty great deal on JCPenny's site. This nice looking Venetian styled trifold mirror is on sale for only $99.99, originally $199! It says Wednesday Deal at the top of the page, so I'm guessing that at 12:01am 8-30-2007 it will go back up to $199.99. Snap this baby up while you still can!

Sweet pattern

Ochre dill blossom fabric, available at Reprodepot

Green dill blossom fabric, available at Reprodepot

I love dill! I try to find any excuse to add it to as many dishes as I can. One of my favorite and easiest breakfasts to make is scrambled eggs with dill and feta. Yum yum yum! That must be why I'm so smitten with this dill blossom fabric. I think the yellow ochre would make a pretty tablecloth and I'd do a set of napkins in the green. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Bittersweet on Paper

Last week I posted about how important it is to find the right stamp for a letter. For example, you may not want to use a "Wedding Hearts" stamp when sending out this note:

Bittersweet Collection, $20 for the set ($5 for a single)

Paper Stories, a Chicagoland stationer, makes the most devilish set of cards. The Bittersweet Collection consists of 5 cards, all which look ornate and beautiful but which read a little hopeless and pissed.

I love the cards but the conceptual problem is this: if you really feel strongly enough to send one of these nasty notes out to a certain jerkvisage, is that [insert expletive here] really worth it? Or, on a higher plane, if an eloquent hand-printed piece of stationery is sent into a bastardo forest, will anyone there appreciate it?


But please let us know if you ever send one! We'd love to hear how that goes over. Keep in mind that you may also choose from, "Sometimes I just hate you," "You just suck the life out of me," and "What did I ever see in you?"

What to wear while kicking King Neptune's a**! (Stylishly, of course!)

Rugged rain suit with pants, available at Amazon

Hunter original boots, available at Zappos

I still can't get over what Cardboard had to go through this past Thursday!!! CRAZY PANTS! Let me just say that again, CRAZY!! What a trooper that woman is! We live 3 miles from each other and my neighborhood was nowhere hit as hard as hers! We had a ton of branches and leaves strewn everywhere and even a few trees partially fallen over, but there was definitely no telephone poles skewering cars, streetlights on the sidewalk, or flooded streets!

What she needs, besides a mural to King Neptune, is a stylish outfit that she can confidently and comfortably wear and not get her skivvies too wet! What do you think of your ensemble, Cardboard? Sure, those rain overalls aren't the sexiest little number but I think with a little bedazzling, you will rock it like the true top model that you are!

Weekend Flings

• xXxBrianxXx's Pair of Pears (seen above)
• Four Bed Two Baths's Contact Paper, Repurposed
• One of the Best Wedding Proposals EVER!
• An Odd Escape
• Candy Store's Photostyling
• Online Moving Tools
• BundleJoyCozySweet's Love of All Things Trailer
• Orangette's Wedding Feast

The Morning After: Storm Photos

So cra-cy last night, y'all. The city crews worked through the night and there are still trees, poles, and pieces of roofs scattered all over.

See more storm aftermath photos on flickr.

Bonus Bone: Surviving the Storm

In real estate, it's called the "garden level." That sounds so lovely and serene but I live there and, around here, we know it as the basement.

Normally, it's fine. I have HUGE windows (for a "garden" unit) and it always stays nice and cool in the summertime. When it storms, however, with the pounding rain and wind, that usually ruins the garden picnic.

If you're in Chicago, you know that it stormed somethin' fierce yesterday. Tornado sirens were blaring and the wind was picking up things it normally never thought to touch. Due to the weather, I was able to leave work 2 hours early because the power blinked out. Normally, this would be fun and exciting but, living in the basement, I knew my first stop was home.

My building is, shall we say, "drain challenged" so any rainstorm is reason enough to worry. But yesterday was no regular storm.

a Neighbor's Tree, broken and blocking the entire street

Once I got off the train and started walking home, I felt like turning around. Tree branches...no wait, whole trees littered the sidewalk. Entire streets were flooded to the point that curbs no longer existed. I walked slowly, my mouth gaping at the destruction, toward my sub-level, surely water-logged abode.

For whatever supernatural reason, I got home and my house was fine. I grabbed my camera and ran back out to snap a few shots (see above). As I was out, marveling at the downed trees and uplifted satellite dishes, the rain began to pound down once again. Even though I was only a few blocks away from my house, I got home just in time to prevent a flood.

Since I have lived in the basement for about 4 years, I know what to watch for. I jogged home in the unnaturally heavy rain, drenched in mere seconds, and began scraping up small piles of leaves, pulling off drain covers, and jarring the sewer manhole covers open so that the rainwater could drain - anywhere - instead of into my house.

I was out there for about an hour. Soaked to my skivvies, I cleared the drains, I used a broom to sweep the water toward the drains and away from my door. Obviously, this is not a fail-safe solution. If I hadn't have gotten out of work early, my unit, as well as two of my neighbors' units, would have surely flooded. My building's got some work to do, I know this. But I, alone with a broom, and the past experience of having lived through this before, was able to prevent all flooding trauma. Believe me, I should be proud of this.

Our roof, however, did not enter my mind. And it, the poor thing, was not so lucky.

Our roof, 8/23/07

The thing peeled back like a sardine can. I do feel bad for the tenant on the third floor because he's surely seeing a little bit of King Neptune's wrath right now. However, in the past, when the drains have blocked up, and the water's built up to calf-level, I don't think my third-floor neighbor has ever ventured down to help me out.

King Neptune, in your watery fury, please understand that I realize your power. I see your strength. I honor and respect you. But if you insist on testing me, if you try to push me into subservience...

I say, "Bring it."

For these reasons, I, Cardboard, declare this a Design Boner.

Pitchers are for Lovers

A loyal reader just wrote to us because she needs to buy a wedding present. She likes the idea of buying the happy new couple a nice, glass pitcher. That's all we needed to hear.

With a flourish of our capes, Porcelain & I were off - flying through the internet - using our keen investigative powers to find the best in communal glassware (or, at least, some decent options).

Classic: Juice Glasses & Pitcher Set, at Williams-Sonoma for $59

Atypical: Sangria Pitcher, at Sur la Table for $18

Modern & Playful: Bravura 7-piece Set, at Target for $20

Sweet: Mikasa Cheers Martini Pitcher, at Bed Bath & Beyond for $25

Sexy: Martini Pitcher, at Crate & Barrel for $23

Vintage: Yellow Pitcher, Ebay for $10

Old-Worldly: Sheridan Oversized Pitcher, at Waterford for $99

Green: Recycled Glass Pitcher, at Amazon for $26

Casual (and my favorites): Frigoverre Glass Pitchers, at Chefs for $10-$13

Square cake stand

Serving pedestal, available at Crate & Barrel

I'm digging this square cake stand (Crate & Barrel calls it a serving pedestal). It's a nice change of pace from the usual round ones.

Best real estate listing ever

Hardwood found the best real estate listing ever! We particularly love the "great" location!!!

2532 S California Ave
Chicago, IL 60608

$ 999,999,999

Great Location Next To 26 Street And Jail. 6 Offices Great Rental Opportunity. Currently Restaurant/ Sports Bar, List Price Include The Business With All Equipment. This Is An Excellent Opportunity. Price To Sell. Business With Excellent Income Included.

For the Love of Stamps

Sometimes a love of design makes a person do really dorky things...


...like subscribe to the stamp catalog.

I admit it: I am a good mail junkie. I think finding the perfect stamp for personal correspondence is part of the whole package (pun intended). I do use the stamps; I don't simply collect them (not that there's anything wrong with that). But I confess to getting way more excited than I should when I see a new USA Philatelic in my mailbox.

The color-overloaded image on the cover of the recent issue is showcasing the new Beautiful Blooms stamps. They're fun and pretty, although hardly unexpected.

I would much rather peel 'n' stick the following:

Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1 design

Vintage Mahogany Speedboats, 4 designs

There's also a new "Jury Duty" design coming out which is cracking me up a bit. It's not visible online yet because the issue date isn't until Sept. 12th. I'll just have to remind you about it later.

Did you catch that? Catalog subscribers get a sneak peek at the upcoming releases. Yeah, that's right. You only wish you were this cool.

6 & 7

Here are our weekend photos. Visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain: right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191

Weekend Flings

We're starting something new over here at design boner. While perusing the internet, we often find really fun, exciting, hilarious, and (often) ridiculous things. We'd love to post something about them on design boner but, many times, they don't fall within our scope or we simply run out of describinary words (see what I'm talking about). But we really do want you to see this stuff!

So we decided to follow in the tradition of Desire to Inspire's Winks, as we introduce you to design boner's Weekend Flings! Short and sweet, these posts will go live over the weekend. We hope to fill the blog lull period with links to notable items we found during the prior week. And since we have a couple of friends who have a difficult time navigating the busy world of AT:Chicago, I will consider my own AT entries to be fling-worthy and we'll be linking to them in this post too.

If you've got big news coming up or just something you want us to see, send us an email and you might get lucky.

• Matt Hamilton's "Salt" (seen above)
• IDD's "Amalgamation of Ugly" in Toaster Form
• A Browner Brown Abandons the Stencil
• Door Sixteen's Perfect Afternoon Light
• sfgirlbybay's Saturday Sewing 101
• An Imagined Life: the Light from Across the Pond
• Point It
• Frecklewonder's Sassy Masthead
• Lekkner's Pop Cozy

Loves Me Some Peacock

Peacock Percale Sheets & Pillows, at Garnet Hill

AT just did a post on new Garnet Hill stuff so I popped over to check out what else was there. First, I kept finding myself attracted to kids' bedding. I don't know why but it seems my current taste in bedding is rather juvenile. But, you gotta admit, this Guitar Shop bedding is pretty righteous.

But then I found the Peacock Percale! Oh, love it, love it, love it! It's on sale right now and (of course) they are all all sold out of the double bed sheets. It's a sad, sad day.

Maybe I could be pacified with just a set of pillow cases (which are still available)...?

Bonus Bone: Coral Pendant

Coral Pendant, available at DWR

Ever since Hardwood and I started condo hunting (we're still hunting in case you're wondering), I've been keeping my eyes open for cool things to furnish our new digs. Lately I've been on a sculptural pendant light kick. Most of the lighting I've seen in condos for sale has been either bland or horrid. I want something that is really unique and makes a bold statement!

One of current favs is the Coral pendant designed by David Trubridge. I'm really attracted to the shape and I've always loved the look of those huge light bulbs. After reading the description of this piece on DWR's site, I'm even more intrigued. The pendant was influenced by the repeating patterns of ice crystals in Antarctica and the similar patterns of underwater coral. Pretty cool! On top of all this, the Coral pendant is made from sustainable, untreated pine plywood. It arrives unassembled to make shipping more efficient and cut down on packaging.

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.

blik & Threadless

Threadless is at it again.

They're one step closer to taking over the world, as they have currently teamed up with blik surface graphics to come out with 9 original Threadless designs for, not T-shirts, but wall decals. It's only a matter of time before Threadless is designing (or facilitating the design of) our bed frames, steering wheels, and cereal boxes.

Did I just sound bitter? I'm not 'cause here are a few of my favorites:

Pirate Infested Waters

Happy Creatures!

Insomnia

West Elm Wants Your Business

West Elm really wants you to like them. I've seen two - count 'em - two online sweepstakes where you can win thousands of dollars worth of West Elm gear. And, in turn, they hope to win your heart.

Casasugar has teamed with West Elm to offer $5,000 to one lucky registrant. You must sign in, put together your wish list (which can be saved and edited), and wait to see if you're the lucky one. Only select WE merchandise is available to add to your list but it's quite fun to go shopping with fake money. The deadline for this contest is Sunday, August 19th.

Domino magazine is also getting in the game. They're only offering $2,500 (to two winners) but you get to choose from anything WE supplies, including their new stuff. For this sweepstakes, you only need to send in your contact information. The deadline for this contest is Monday, August 20th.

I'm a sucker for free furniture so I entered both sweepstakes. If I do win, here are a couple of items that will surely find their way into my house:

Hudson Nightstand, $259

Wood-Block Rug, $49-$599

Storage Bench, $249

Which lovely things would you choose? Come award time, I might just be feeling generous....

6 & 7

Here are our most recent weekend photos. We're all 6 & 7 caught up. You can visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain: right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191

6 & 7

Here are our weekend photos...from last, last weekend. We've had a few internet glitches around design boner HQ so please forgive us. We're getting ourselves back on track. Of course, you can still visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain: right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191

Ace Hotel - Portland

I've always wanted to take a trip to the Pacific Northwest. After reading an article in Elle Decoration UK (sorry no web site) on the Ace Hotel in Portland, Oregon, now I REALLY want to go!!! Gone are the usual generic and boring hotel rooms and instead you are greeted with uniqueness galore! All of the rooms feature art work by local and national artists, vintage furnishings, environmentally friendly mattresses, and some rooms even have a turntable with a stack of records to play. I think my favorite element of the Ace is the photo booth (Cardboard and I are photo booth junkies!!!).

Rates seem pretty reasonable, ranging from $95-250/night.

Bonus Bone: Neat Freak III

Neat Freak III, 7" x 5" gocco print for $10 at Etsy

Errrrnt, wrong!

Having lived with a neat freak recently, I had to hear "Please don't leave dirty dishes in the sink" more than any person should. But now that I can finally leave one dirty plate in the sink without bringing the world to a fiery end, this gocco print by treepiminusthree makes me laugh. The simple drawing style, the throw-back polka dots, and gameshow-inspired X combine to make doing the dishes (or at least thinking about doing them) seem like such a silly task.

Check out the other two prints in the Neat Freak series, including "Please keep the toilet seat down."

Neat Freak Series

For these reasons, I, Cardboard, declare this a Design Boner.